Harare — A new video of the song Zimbolious by Prince Tendai Mupfurutsa is out.

Premiered last week, the rousing video could see Prince Tendai gunning for this year's Kora All Africa Music Awards or the NAMA award in video category.

Asked what Zimbolious means, Prince Tendai answered: "The warmth and composure of Zimbabwean. The women are cute."

Sleek as it is, the video is far better than his previous video of the song Chipo Baby that saw him win the NAMA award in 2003 the resort town of Kariba and shows some of the finest and photogenic models from Model Management who undertook a casting session a few months back.

Apparently Zimbolious is the title track for Prince Tendai's upcoming album due for release this year.

According to Prince Tendai, copies of the video have been distributed to ZTV, Channel O and MTV Base music channels.

Neropa RaJesu - Gugu Moyo

From Ngaavongwe Records comes a new kid on the bloc - Gugu with an album titled Neropa RaJesu packed with soulful songs.

What impresses most are the lyrics although some of the songs remind many of the South African gospel queen Rebecca Malope.

As her first appearance on gospel, Gugu, with help from Elias Musakwa, a renowned gospel musician, set herself high standards, which she might fail to break in future.

Most artistes sing gospel for several reasons but for Gugu, a member of the ZAOGA church, says she "wants to preach through music"

Being versatile as she is, Gugu sings in Shona and isiNdebele to reach out to her fans.

Chamhembe Plus - Various Artistes

It's been months after the release of the compilation Chamhembe Plus and I still feel it's never late. Why? There has been some resistance to this album because unlike the previous one Chamhembe Volume One, which had a myriad of enjoyable skits, the second is boring with only three skits.

Even some of the artistes who did well on Volume One, admitted that what they presented on the follow up - Chamhembe Plus - was second hand.

For example, if you listen to Mafriq's Ndokuudza Sei on Volume One and compare it with Zuva on Chamhembe Plus there is a world of difference.

The same goes with Rocqui's Aiiyao on Volume One and Ndoda on Chamhembe Plus that will make one think that the artiste had lost his touch.

On the latest album the only likeable track is Leonard Mapfumo's Maidei while Ex Q's song was a flop.

Vapupuri Pupurai - Alick Macheso

It's really hard to convince fans on what they should spend their money on because the decision lies with them. But at the risk of being criticised for calling a spade a spade, Macheso's latest album is not a sure fire hit.

It appears Macheso being a revered king of sungura anything he releases ought to be a gem. Unfortunately on this album it's the opposite. Vapupuri Pupurai is a below average effort, lukewarm and at worst a high sounding nothing.

My favourite album is Zvakanaka Zvakadaro, a fourth effort upon which Macheso built a firm foundation. It was with this album that Macheso became popular during live shows and grabbed his first NAMA and ZIMA awards.

A turning point indeed, and the trend with most Macheso albums since his debut Magariro to the latest Vapupuri Pupurai has been constant. The sales swelled with each release and so was his fan base.

But to compare Zvakanaka Zvakadaro with Vapupuri Pupurai is really a shame. To most resourceful readers and listeners, for Macheso it's now the name that sales and not the product and that's typical of all kings such as Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson to mention a few.